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History

Early Years

Dan "Danny" Ketch and his sister Barbara were born to Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale, but were given away to a widowed woman named Francis Ketch when they were very young. The two grew up only knowing Mrs. Ketch as their mother, but their biological mom, Naomi Kale, continued to keep tabs on the kids until her death ten years later.[2]

Ghost Rider

On Halloween night when they were teenagers, Danny took his sister Barbra to a graveyard to give her the opportunity to take pictures of the grave of Harry Houdini. During this excursion, the siblings stumbled upon a confrontation between two gangs, one led by Deathwatch and the other made up of cronies belonging to the Kingpin. The two gangs began fighting each other, and Barbra cried out, causing Deathwatch to become alerted to her presence. Barbara was shot through the chest with an arrow by one of Deathwatch's henchmen, so Danny grabbed his sister's body and ran away to a nearby junkyard. Distressed, he hid there with his sister's unconscious body from Deathwatch's henchmen, and while hiding there he noticed a pristine motorbike with a glowing gas cap.[3] Inspecting the glowing gas cap, Danny touched it with his hand and instantly transformed into Ghost Rider, a Spirit of Vengeance whose mission was to take revenge on those who shed innocent blood. As Ghost Rider, both Daniel's mind and Ghost Rider's mind were in control, resulting in Danny being only somewhat influential in his own actions.

Ghost Rider confronted and began to torture the henchmen of Deathwatch, but was interrupted by the arrival of the police. Leaving Barbra's body behind, Ghost Rider escaped the police on his flaming motorbike, which had also been transformed when Danny touched the glowing gas cap. Eventually Ghost Rider drove into a secluded alleyway where he turned back into Daniel Ketch.[3]

Barbara's unconscious body was taken to a hospital by the cops, but much time later she was killed by Blackout, who had learned Daniel's secret identity and sought revenge on Ghost Rider for burning his face (an injury Blackout actually had himself to blame for).[4]

Dan's good friend Jack D'Auria was also eventually caught up in the conflict against Deathwatch's men, where he helped Ghost Rider fight them.[5]

John Blaze travelled from the West Coast to confront this new Ghost Rider thinking the evil spirit Zarathos had returned.[8] Blaze hunted down Ghost Rider and tried to kill him multiple times while Ghost Rider kept attempting to escape Blaze and bring Blackout, who was killing multiple people, to justice. Finally, when Blaze watched Ghost Rider save a child in Central Park that Blackout was about to kill, he became less suspicious of Ghost Rider and stopped trying to kill him. He instead decided to observe Daniel to make sure that he wasn't Zarathos, and he taught Daniel how to fight and protect himself when he wasn't transformed into Ghost Rider.[9]

It was later revealed for certain that this incarnation of Ghost Rider was not Zarathos, and that Blaze and Ketch were brothers. The family had been separated by the Blood to limit the chances of the Spirits of Vengeance forming, but Mephisto's manipulations forced them to use the powers. [10]

The two worked together to fight Zarathos and Lilith as part of the Midnight Sons. Danny Ketch seemed to die by the hands of Blackout,[11] but the Spirit of Vengeance to which he had been bound through the bike's talisman lived on. During this time Dan's only existence remained stuck in a void and would only be able to communicate with the Ghost Rider Spirit via the spirit world. [12]

Dan also had problems with his girlfriend, Stacy, who joined a task force that was designed to confront superhuman criminals and vigilantes. As the Ghost Rider, he was briefly captured, but escaped before SHIELD could examine the nature of his powers.[13]

Noble Kale

After an attack by a mad Vengeance revealed some dark memories, Ketch consulted with Doctor Strange. It was revealed that the Ghost Rider form was actually an ancestor, Noble Kale, who had become a Spirit of Vengeance with the help of the angel Uriel. Their use of motorcycles was due to Naomi placing her medallion on her own motorcycle. This also meant Ketch and Blaze were distantly related to sorceress Jennifer Kale. This knowledge seemed to increase the power of the Ghost Rider, although he also became more distant and angry. The revelations also awakened the Furies, who had been dispatched to destroy Kale and his descendants. Jennifer sent out a mystic distress signal, which was answered by Valkyrie. Together they managed to hold off the Furies until Jennifer was able to call the spirit of Naomi to force the Furies to abandon their attack. [14]

Having recently deposed his father Mephisto, Blackheart began to attack the Ghost Rider with his own created Spirits of Vengeance. He also mocked Blaze by placing Roxanne's spirit into the Blackrose. Kale was killed by Pao Fu and taken to Blackheart's Hell. While there, Daniel Ketch apparently sacrificed himself to unlock Noble Kale's full power.[15] Kale defeated Blackheart and briefly controlled the realm until Mephisto's return. While he ruled Hell, he resurrected Dan Ketch and returned him to Earth.[16]

Sometime later when Mephisto reclaimed his realm, Noble Kale returned to Earth and was forced to re-bond to Dan Ketch.[17]

Danny slipped into a coma in the mortal plane and was later revived by his dead and brother and went on to live a seemingly normal life. However, this was not to last; his longtime girlfriend Stacy found out she was pregnant with Danny's child and ran away.[18]

Zadkiel

Sometime later, however, Dan had a change of heart and had Noble Kale exercised from his body by the technomancer Mary LeBow. No longer having the Ghost Rider's power causes Danny to fall into a deep depression, becoming a drunk who fights bar thugs for kicks. He is approached by Mister Eleven, a talking crow that continues to encounter Ketch over and over, giving him 'doses' of the Ghost Rider power, luring him in with longer amounts each time.[19]

Eleven explains to Ketch the true history of the Spirits of Vengeance and how some past Ghost Rider incarnations were unable to cope with such a magnitude of power, going insane and burning out their souls. He also explains that Verminus Rex, from Blackheart's old Spirits of Vengeance, is hunting other Ghost Riders in order to feed his own growing addiction.[20] After absorbing the spirit from another Ghost Rider that knew of Rex's location, Danny finds out where he is hiding and finishes him off, absorbing the other spirits Rex had taken in the past. Taking on such an amount of power pushes Danny over the edge, causing him to go insane. Zadkiel intervenes, offering to take away Danny's pain from the overdose and in return, Danny must gather other Spirits of Vengeance and absorb their essence in order to "save the host's soul". Desperate and with no other option, Ketch agrees, becoming a knight in Zadkiel's service.[21]

Danny is next seen in the shadows speaking on the phone with the head nurse hunting Johnny Blaze, the sign of Zadkiel on his hand. Ketch then encounters Lucas, the young boy Blaze is trying to save, and seemingly convinces the boy to kill himself.[22]

The Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance

Daniel Ketch set off on his new mission: To collect the powers of all the Ghost Riders for the angel Zadkiel to prevent the corruption of the powers within their human hosts. Zadkiel has other motives he keeps to himself--that he needs the powers of the Riders to tear down the walls of New Jerusalem and wage war on the Heaven.

Danny's first task is to destroy any evidence of his own history by attacking Caretaker and destroying his archives. Johnny Blaze and Caretaker's granddaughter, Sister Sara arrive to speak with Caretaker before he dies, but are too late to catch Danny.[12]

In Tibet with Chinese soldiers harassing a village, a peasant enters on a donkey. After a few exchange of words and an order to kill given by the General, the peasant changes and kills the General's men while his back is turned. When the General turns back he sees the Ghost Rider and gets a penance stare for his trouble. After the attack the Rider goes back to his sanctuary where he is visited by Danny Ketch. A short while later Sara and Johnny Blaze arrive at the sanctuary to find out how to get back at Zadkiel. After entering, they find the peasant and donkey burnt to husks from Ketch leeching the Ghost Rider power.[23]

That night, the two are visited by Ketch and begin a battle with a show of power. When Blaze does the penance stare to his brother, he sees exactly what has transpired. Ketch has murdered the hosts of numerous riders for their powers. During a show of pity for the fallen, Ketch is able to return the stare on Blaze, and sends Blaze into temporary insanity. Before Ketch is able to take the power of Zarathos, he is stopped by the new caretaker, Sister Sara. She rescues Blaze and they go to a safehouse where they are visited by two more Ghost Riders, the Arabic Molek and the Chinese Bai Gu Jing, who are aware of Zadkiel and Ketch's plan.[24]

When Blaze's team arrives in Japan, they learn Ketch has already taken the power of the Rider, Yoshio Kannabe. After the conquest, Ketch has another talk with Zadkiel via a communications link. During the conversation, Zadkiel massacres the squad of the Asura who guard the gates of Heaven. Zadkiel tells Ketch to wait to attack the Riders until the last ones are together. After leaving Japan, Blaze's team journeys to the City of the Skulls in the Congo where the last stand would be made. There they meet the Lords of the Congo, the Ghost Riders, Baron Skullfire and Marinette Bwa Chech, and their Phantom Riders.[25]

Ghost Rider

As the Ghost Riders and their forces get ready for battle, Blaze has his eyes opened back up by kids going to fight. He quickly snaps out of his depression and joins the others for the final battle. During the course of the battle Baron Skullfire dies and the spirit is transferred to one of the Phantom Riders, after which Ketch creates hellfire avatars of himself to take all the powers. A wager is then made by Blaze and Ketch on a race between the brothers around the world for the fates of the powers. As he is about to win, Blaze is injured by Kowalski using a Hellfire Shotgun who Zadkiel had lying in wait. Danny Ketch is now able to take the Rider from Johnny and take them to Zadkiel. The sound of the gates falling is enough to be felt by Spider-Man's senses, and loud enough to be heard by people everywhere including Hell and Asgard. When an injured Blaze returns to the City of the Skulls, Ketch falls from the sky and reveals that Zadkiel had used him as a weapon, and that the battle for Heaven has already been decided.[26]

Trials and Tribulations

After the battle with Zadkiel and his Black Host, Ketch parts ways with Blaze and Sara, taking to the open road on his motorcycle and reminiscing about being Zadkiel's puppet. Now, he simply waits for the end of the world to soon come. He comes across a blown-up gas station, destroyed by the demonically-possessed Highwayman. He attempts to pass by it but his bike refuses to budge however, and Ketch is forcibly turned into the Ghost Rider.
Danny finds the Highwayman further up the road, having finished slaughtering a bus full of UFO watchers and hippies to feed the demons in his semi. Ghost Rider faces off with the Highwayman, eventually tearing his head off in a high-speed chase. His decapitated head attempts to crawl away, sprouting arachnid legs and cursing the Ghost Rider. Ketch picks it up and sets it ablaze with a spew of hellfire. He transforms back into Danny Ketch and rides off, reflecting on how close he was to being rid of this life as the Ghost Rider.

Following Danny's encounter with the Highwayman he teamed up with Blaze for a final assault on Zadkiel. The two brothers working together with the new Caretaker, Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter discover a portal into Heaven. Once there they take the fight to Zadkiel only to be initially beaten by the mad angel. On the verge of giving up Blaze realizes how to call upon the spirits of the previously fallen Spirits of Vengeance for aid. Ketch and Blaze, together with all of the Spirits of Vengeance from human history, defeat Zadkiel and restore balance to earth. Ketch's whereabouts following the defeat of Zadkiel are unknown.[27]

Superior Spider-Man

When Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) confronted Blackout, he called Ketch for information on the villain. Ketch offered to help him fight Blackheart, but he declined.[28]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

This Ghost Rider was cursed from the bloodline of Noble Kale. As the Ghost Rider, Ketch possessed a variety of supernatural powers.

Demonic Transformation: Dan Ketch possessed the supernatural ability to transform into the Ghost Rider at will. Originally, he would have to touch the gas cap of his motorcycle to transform. Later, he would automatically transform at night or in the presence of evil. Eventually, however, he gained control over his transformations and could transform through an act of will or when innocent blood is spilled.

Superhuman Stamina: The mystical energy that empowers Ghost Rider prevents his muscles from producing fatigue toxins during physical activities. As a result, while transformed into Ghost Rider, Ketch possessed limitless superhuman stamina in all physical activities.

Superhuman Durability: While transformed into Ghost Rider, Ketch's body was highly resistant to physical injury. He was capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, powerful energy blasts, high caliber bullets, and falls from great heights without sustaining injury.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his high resistance to damage and harm while he was transformed into Ghost Rider, Ketch could still sustain any damage and/or harm. however, the mystical energies of the Ghost Rider enabled him to rapidly heal any damage and/or harm rapidly faster, greater and better than any ordinary human being is capable of. his regenerative powers are powerful and rapid they allow him to regenerate in a matter of moments/seconds depending on the damage and/or harm.

Hellfire Manipulation: As Ghost Rider, Ketch possessed the ability to generate, control, and project mystical fire, or "hellfire" at will. Hellfire is an emphyreal and supernatural flame that burns the soul of a person and can be used to burn their physical body. He could utilize this fire in various ways, including projecting it from his eyes, hands, mouth, or even channel it from his body into other weapons like his shotgun, form walls of hellfire, and even create a motorcycle completely out of hellfire.

Mystical Chain Projection: As Ghost Rider, Ketch wielded a mystical chain that was capable of growing in length, cutting through almost anything, and transforming into other weapons. He could also spew and project chains from his mouth or chest at will.

Penance Stare: As Ghost Rider, Ketch possessed the supernatural ability to cause any individual who stares into his eyes to see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime.

Immunity: Recently, as Ghost Rider, Ketch has demonstrated immunity to any kind of force that can affect his body and everything he has, and may go through a force field without being affected.

Abilities

Skilled Motorcyclist:: Ketch himself was a skilled motorcyclist.

Formidable Hand-to-Hand Combatant: As Ghost Rider, was a formidable combatant as a result of his powers, though he had no formal training.

Strength level

Class 10

Weaknesses

Penance stare can't effect victims if they are blind, on drugs, or have no soul. Using the penance stare on anyone who is blind, on drugs, or have no soul will render him unconscious or in a death-like state. The same thing happens if he uses the penance stare on someone or something with more than two eyes. The penance stare also seems to have little effect on those who are mentally unstable, such as Madcap and Carnage.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Motorcycle. While Danny was Ghost Rider, his motorcycle transformed with hellfire wheels and could travel across water or up walls, and can be commanded remotely.

Weapons

Ghost Rider's Chain, which had a variety of mystical abilities, and which responded to Ghost Rider's mental commands.

Notes

The American band Suicide wrote a song in tribute to the Ghost Rider character. It has since been covered by several bands.[3] Vocalist Alan Vega has also gone on to say that the name Suicide was inspired by the Ghost Rider comic book titled Satan Suicide, a favorite of his.